By Alice Ritchie and Ella Ide

ROME – Silvio Berlusconi, the former prime minister who reshaped Italy’s political and cultural landscape while fending off multiple legal and sex scandals, died Monday (12) aged 86.

The billionaire media mogul was admitted to a Milan hospital on Friday (9) for what aides said were pre-planned tests related to leukaemia.

His admission came just three weeks after he was discharged following a six-week stay at Milan’s San Raffaele hospital, during which time doctors revealed he had a rare type of blood cancer.

He died Monday, his spokesman told AFP, as his children rushed to the hospital to say their goodbyes.

Berlusconi had suffered ill health for years, from heart surgery in 2016 to a 2020 hospitalization for COVID-19. Despite being re-elected to the Senate last year, he was rarely seen in public.

But he remained the official head of his right-wing Forza Italia party, a junior – and occasionally troublesome – partner in Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s coalition government.

“Berlusconi was above all a fighter. He was a man who was not afraid to defend his convictions, and it was precisely that courage and determination which made him one of the most influential men in Italy’s history,” Meloni said in a video message posted on Twitter.

Matteo Salvini, head of another coalition party, the anti-immigration League, said the country had lost “a great Italian… one of the greatest ever”.

“But above all today I lose a great friend. I’m broken and I rarely cry, today is one of those days,” he said on social media.

Ex-prime minister Matteo Renzi said that Berlusconi had “made history”, even if he was controversial.

“Many loved him, many hated him: everyone today must recognize that his impact on political but also economic, sporting and television life was unprecedented,” he said.

Elly Schlein, leader of the centre-left opposition Democratic Party, said Berlusconi’s death “marks the end of an era”.

Berlusconi led Italy three times between 1994 and 2011, for a total of nine years, wooing voters with a promise of economic success only to be forced out as a debt crisis gripped his country.

But his influence extended well beyond politics, thanks to his extensive TV, newspaper and sporting interests, while his playboy antics kept him in the headlines even in his final years.

Berlusconi is survived by his 33-year-old girlfriend, Marta Fascina, two ex-wives and five children, some of whom help run his empire, recently estimated to be worth around $7 billion.

Funeral details have not been announced, but Berlusconi built a Pharaoh-inspired marble mausoleum at his villa in Arcore, near Milan, to house his family and friends when they die.

Charismatic, clownish and with a fine grasp of what his audiences wanted, Berlusconi used his media interests to project an image of a strong, self-made man that voters could emulate – a tactic later used by US president Donald Trump.

Berlusconi “ignited and polarized the public debate perhaps like no other”, former prime minister Giuseppe Conte said on Facebook.

“And even those who faced him as a political opponent must recognize that he never lacked courage, passion, (and) tenacity,” he wrote.

Berlusconi began his career as a real estate magnate before investing in television channels which broke the mould in Italy, featuring shows particularly popular with housewives, later a pillar of his electorate.

His empire also included football – he reigned supreme at AC Milan from 1986 until 2017, during which time the club won 29 trophies.

The club said in a tribute that it was “grieving the passing of the unforgettable Silvio Berlusconi” and “Thank you, Mr President. Always with us”.

Berlusconi portrayed himself as both messiah and martyr and enjoyed widespread popularity, though detractors accused him of cronyism, corruption and pushing through laws to protect his own interests.

His fans admired his plain speaking, though many Italians were acutely embarrassed by his crude jokes and insults on the international stage, as well as his endless legal cases, which resulted in one conviction for corporate tax fraud.

And while Italy’s economy floundered, the self-professed playboy was hosting notorious ‘bunga bunga’ sex parties, which triggered a series of trials that were only wrapped up in recent months.

In 2010, 17-year-old Karima El-Mahroug, known as Ruby the Heart Stealer, claimed to have been paid by Berlusconi for sex. He was later also accused of bribing witnesses to lie about the parties, though he was ultimately acquitted.

– Agence France-Presse